1. Field
The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for selectively allowing or authorizing participation in an auction, and for maintaining and updating a list of known devices that previously have or have not satisfactorily completed one or more steps in previous auction(s).
2. Description of the Related Art
Various on-line or networked auction systems exist for providing auction services. Some auction systems can run on a single server. Such single-server auction systems typically handle smaller demands, including smaller amounts of traffic. To handle larger demands, some auction systems run on several servers to distribute database input/output (I/O) and web transactions. Some auction services offer some form of security by requiring usernames and passwords for access. Some auction services may additionally require credit card information, which may be used as part of access security. Despite the existence of on-line or networked auction services, there remain opportunities to improve such services, including but not limited to improving security by incorporating hardware identification, sometimes called “hardware fingerprinting,” and by maintaining a database of prior satisfactory and unsatisfactory completion of auction processes or certain steps in such processes. It is desirable to provide these and other capabilities in a more secure system for on-line or networked auction services.